Canada considers while Australia acts on gender diversity

While Canadians debate whether regulators should mandate ways to get more women on boards, the Australian Securities Exchange is moving ahead with a proposal that would compel companies to disclose annually how they score on a range of gender diversity metrics.

Instead of merely reporting the proportion of men and woman on the board, in management and across the organization, companies listed on the ASX would have to report “gender equality indicators” such as pay equality, and flexible working arrangements developed for employees with families, according to a note published Friday by Australian law firm Holding Redlich.

The companies would also have to detail consultations with employees on issues concerning gender equality in the workplace.

If the company declined to make such disclosures, it would have to explain why, according to the note penned by Holding Redlich lawyers Michael MacMahon and Phillip Vickery.

This aspect of the proposal is similar to the “comply or explain” model under consideration by the Ontario Securities Commission, which was tasked by the provincial government to explore way to get more women onto the boards of Canadian companies and into senior management.

The OSC solicited input this summer on whether, and in what ways, it should play a role in improving gender diversity. The commission is expected to deliver recommendations to the Ontario government sometime in the fall.

One of the most radical suggestions came from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The pension giant recommended that all companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange be compelled to have at least three women on their boards by 2020, or face de-listing from the exchange.

The proposals under consideration in Australia would require the stock exchange to amend its listing rules, according to the lawyers at Holding Redlich.

A final version of the principles and recommendations for a broader revamp of corporate governance in Australia is expected early next year, according to the law firm’s note. The new rules, if adopted, would apply to a company’s first full financial year beginning after July 1, 2014.

The Australian Institute of Corporate Directors reports that the percentage of women on the boards of ASX200 companies stands at 16.4% as of September 25. The institute said 48 boards in the ASX200 do not have any women on the boards, but reported that, year-to-date, 22% of new board appointees were women.

A 2011 survey by Toronto-based Catalyst revealed that women held 14.5% of board seats in corporate Canada, a proportion that had barely budged since 2009, and that more than 46% of public companies in the FP500 had no female directors.

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